The present application claims the priorities of commonly owned German patent applications Serial Nos. 100 04 906.04 and 100 04 908.7 both filed Feb. 4, 2000. The disclosures of the above-referenced German patent applications, as well as that of each U.S. and foreign patent and patent application identified in the specification of the present application, is incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to improvements in the making and processing of rod-shaped articles. Examples of articles which can be mass-produced and processed in accordance with the method and in the apparatus of the present invention are filter cigarettes and analogous rod-shaped smokers"" products wherein coaxial rod-shaped components are held together by convoluted bands or strips of adhesive-coated paper, artificial cork or the like.
Filter cigarettes are mass produced in so-called tipping machines which are designed to connect one or more plain cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length with one or more filter mouthpieces of unit length or multiple unit length. Connections are established by adhesive-coated uniting bands which are rolled in a channel around the locations where the ends of the mouthpieces are adjacent to and normally abut the ends of the plain cigarettes. This results in the conversion of uniting bands into tubular sleeves or collars which, as a rule or in many instances, completely surround the filter mouthpieces and further surround the adjacent end portions of plain cigarettes.
Prior to entry into the channel, each uniting band extends, e.g., tangentially, from the respective group of coaxial rod-shaped constituents (one or more filter mouthpieces and one or more plain cigarettes); such tangentially extending uniting bands are converted into the aforementioned tubular sleeves in response to rolling of the respective groups in the channel which is bounded by two surfaces at least one of which moves relative to the other. Reference may be had, for example, to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,882 granted May 2, 1989 to Werner Hinz for xe2x80x9cAPPARATUS FOR ROLLING UNITING BANDS AROUND GROUPS OF ROD-SHAPED ARTICLESxe2x80x9d. A presently preferred apparatus for making filter cigarettes (normally filter cigarettes of double unit length) is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,008 granted Aug. 4, 1992 to Erwin Oesterling et al. for xe2x80x9cMETHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILTER CIGARETTESxe2x80x9d.
It is customary to provide the tubular envelopes of filter cigarettes and analogous rod-shaped smokers"" products with perforations, i.e., to increase the permeability of the envelopes. At the present time, such perforations are formed by directing pulsating beams of coherent corpuscular radiation against selected portions of wrapping material for plain cigarettes or filter mouthpieces, against the wrapping material which is thereupon converted into discrete uniting bands, or against the tubular wrappers of finished plain or filter cigarettes or the like. The purpose of perforations in the tubular wrappers of rod-shaped smokers"" products (such as the wrappers of mouthpieces forming part of filter cigarettes) is to admit cool atmospheric air into the column of tobacco smoke flowing from the lighted end of a filter cigarette into the mouth of the smoker. Such atmospheric air is believed to exert a desirable influence upon the nicotine and condensate in tobacco smoke. U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,670 (granted Aug. 4, 1981 to Uwe Heitmann et al. for xe2x80x9cAPPARATUS FOR INCREASING THE PERMEABILITY OF WRAPPING MATERIAL FOR ROD-SHAPED SMOKERS"" PRODUCTSxe2x80x9d) discloses certain presently preferred apparatus which employ laser beams and can be utilized to make holes in the wrappers of plain cigarettes, filter rod sections, filter cigarettes and other rod-shaped smokers"" products.
An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of altering or selecting (particularly increasing) the permeabilities of the wrappers of rod-shaped products, such as plain or filter cigarettes or like or analogous rod-shaped products, especially smokers"" products, which is less likely to entail damage to the products than heretofore known methods.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of shortening the intervals which are required to make and to further process, particularly perforate, filter cigarettes and the like.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved method of assembling and processing, especially changing the permeability of the wrappers of, rod-shaped smokers"" products in a time- and space-saving manner.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a method of the above outlined character which can be practiced by resorting to relatively simple, compact and reasonably priced apparatus.
Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for the practice of the above outlined method.
A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved machine for the making of filter cigarettes and analogous rod-shaped smokers"" products.
Another object of the invention is to provide a combined filter tipping and wrapper perforating machine, especially for the mass production of plain or filter cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and analogous rod-shaped smokers"" products.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for rolling rod-shaped articles in a filter tipping machine preparatory to and in the course of changing the permeabilities of the wrappers of such products.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved perforating unit for use in a filter tipping machine or another machine for the making of rod-shaped smokers"" products.
A further object of the present invention is to provide novel and improved devices for accelerating and decelerating rolling movements of rod-shaped articles in the perforating unit of a tipping machine for cigarettes or the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide high-quality rod-shaped commodities, especially high-quality plain or filter cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars and the like.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a filter tipping machine wherein the mechanism or mechanisms which assembles or assemble plain cigarettes with filter mouthpieces and the mechanism or unit which changes the permeabilities of tubular wrappers of the constituents of filter cigarettes or analogous smokers"" products cooperate with each other in a novel and improved way.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mode of installing laser-operated perforating devices or units for the tubular wrappers of rod-shaped commodities in a machine wherein such commodities must be rolled for a number of different reasons.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a filter tipping machine wherein rod-shaped articles can be rolled at optimum speeds for each of a plurality of different purposes such as the application of adhesive-coated uniting bands which bond plain cigarettes to filter mouthpieces and the making of perforations in the tubular wrapper or wrappers for one or more constituents of a filter cigarette or the like.
One feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a method of changing the permeabilities of tubular wrappers of rod-shaped products, for example, filter cigaretes and analogous rod-shaped products of the tobacco processing industry. The method comprises the step of simultaneously changing the permeabilities of wrappers of a plurality of products, for example, of successive pairs of neighboring products of a short or long series of products.
The permeability changing step can include perforating the wrappers of nxe2x89xa72 products (n is a natural number).
In accordance with one presently preferred embodiment of the improved method, the perforating step includes establishing a source of n at least substantially parallel laser beams, and directing the n beams upon nxe2x88x92x oscillatable beam reflecting mirrors to focus the n beams upon the wrapper of at least one product (x is a natural number less than n). For example, n can equal two. Such method can further comprise the steps of moving the products in the course of the changing step and oscillating each mirror to thus focus the beams upon the wrappers of moving prooducts.
The changing step can include simultaneously perforating m selected portions of the wrapper of each product. The number (m) of selected portions of the wrapper is a natural number and can equal or exceed two. The perforating step can include directing m substantially parallel pulsating laser beams upon the wrapper of each prodct. In accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the method, the perforating step includes simultaneously directing p laser beams upon q partially reflecting mirrors to reflect a first portion and to permit passage of a second portion of each laser beam, and directing the second portions of the laser beams against at least one fully reflecting mirror (m can equal p (q+1) wherein p is a natural number and q is a natural number including zero).
Another feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a device or unit for changing the permeabilities of tubular wrappers of a series of at least substantially equidistant rod-shaped products. The improved device comprises means for emitting n laser beams, and means for simultaneously directing the laser beams upon the wrappers of n products (n is a natural number greater than one). The directing means comprises nxe2x88x92x movable mirrors which are arranged to deflect a plurality of laser beams making an acute angle the magnitude of which is a function of the distance between neighboring products of the series (x is a natural number less than n).
The permeability changing device can further comprise means for moving the products of the series along a predetermined path (e.g., in a straight channel or in an arcuate channel) and means for oscillating each mirror to thus focus the beams upon the wrappers of selected products in the predetermined path. The directing means can include means for simultaneously focussing at least one discrete beam of corpuscular radiation upon each of m different portions of the wrapper of each of the series of products in the path (m is a natural number greater than one). The oscillating means can include means (such as a motor) for oscillating the nxe2x88x92x mirrors about a common axis.
The mirrors can include q=(m/p)xe2x88x921 partially transmitting mirrors which are arranged to split each of p incident beams into a reflected first portion and a transmitted second portion, and at least one fully reflecting mirror for the second portions of the beams (p is a natural number and q is a natural number including zero).
A further feature of the instant invention resides in the provision of an apparatus for treating smokers"" products of the type wherein a rod-shaped component (such component can contain or consist of tobacco and/or filter material for tobacco smoke) is surrounded by a tubular wrapper carrying a deformable strip, such as a band of so-called tipping paper used in the making of filter cigarettes. The improved apparatus comprises a rolling unit having a plurality of surfaces which define a channel and include at least one first surface arranged to move relative to at least one second surface. The channel has an inlet and an outlet and the apparatus further comprises means for feeding into the inlet successive products of a series of products having tubular wrappers each of which is contacted by the respective strip so that the wrappers are caused to roll due to contact with the aforementioned surfaces and to thus convolute the strips about the respective wrappers in the channel. The improved apparatus still further comprises means for changing the permeabilities of the wrappers during rolling in a predetermined portion of the channel; such changing means comprises means for simultaneously perforating the wrappers of at least two products in the predetermined portion of the channel.
Further to the aforementioned predetermined portion, the channel includes an additional portion which is disposed at the inlet; the strips are convoluted around the respective wrappers in such additional portion of the channel. The predetermined portion of the channel can immediately follow the additional portion (as seen in a direction from the inlet toward the outlet of the channel), and the perforating means is or can be arranged to change the permeabilities of the wrappers of products at least in the predetermined portion of the channel (i.e., the perforating treatment can begin while the products are still in the additional portion of the channel).
It is often preferred to impart to the channel an arcuate shape. This can be carried out by employing a rolling unit which comprises a rotary conveyor (such as a rotary drum-shaped conveyor) having a cylindrical peripheral surface which constitutes the at least one first surface, and a stationary rolling member having a concave surface which is concentric with and is spaced apart from the peripheral surface of the drum-shaped conveyor; such concave surface then constitutes the at least one second surface.
The improved apparatus can be incorporated into or associated with a tipping machine which turns out filter cigarettes or analogous rod-shaped smokers"" products.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved apparatus and the improved permeability changing device themselves, however, both as to their construction and the modes of assembling, installing and utilizing the same, together with numerous additional important and advantageous features and attributes thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain presently preferred specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.